Epidemiology and Etiology of Acute Pancreatitis: A Retrospective Single- Centre Study

Abstract

Background: Acute pancreatitis is a common and potentially life threatening condition with variation in severity. It has several underlying etiologies such as biliary, hypertriglyceridemia, alcohol, post ERCP and more. It is diagnosed according to fulfillment of the criteria of the Atlanta classification of pancreatitis

Methods: Medical records for all the patients admitted to the intensive care unit between the time period of September 2018 and January 2021 with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. The criteria of Atlanta classification of acute pancreatitis was applied to confirm the diagnosis and the Bedside Index for Severity in Acute Pancreatitis score was used to assess the severity.

Results: We identified a sample size of 23 patients, with a predominance of males (78.3%) over female (21.7%). The mean age of all patients was (39 years ± 11.98). At the time of admission all the patients (100%) reported having abdominal pain. The etiology distribution was as follows, idiopathic (43.5%), biliary (21.7%), hypertriglyceridemia (17.4%), alcohol (4.3%), malignancy (4.3%) and other (8.7%). Conclusion: We documented acute pancreatitis as more prevalent amongst males and the age group of 30-59 years of age. The most common etiology recognized in our population was idiopathic followed by biliary. Additional studies must be conducted about this condition in this region to amplify our knowledge on it.